Ballot Question Committees Raise $2.4 Million For 2018 Campaign

BOSTON (AP) _ Committees supporting and opposing questions on the November ballot have already raised more than $2.4 million.

By far, the most money pouring into the questions have come from labor unions including the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which backs a proposal calling for strict nurse-to-patient ratios in hospitals.

The Service Employees International Union and other labor unions are backing a handful of questions, including one that would gradually raise the state's minimum wage to $15 an hour and another that would help guarantee paid family and medical leave for workers.

A group supporting a question that would lower the sales tax from 6.25 percent to 5 percent and create an annual sales-tax free weekend also reported raising a hefty sum.

Nearly all of that money came from the Retailers Association of Massachusetts.